I'm John Edwards, Independent councillor for Sandhurst, and I am currently being punished and silenced for telling the truth about an Afghan resettlement hotel scheme in Bracknell.

In April last year, Bracknell Forest Council started housing over 300 Afghans in a four-star hotel. The scheme provided on-site healthcare, wraparound care, and move-on support that helps Afghans relocate into private rental properties with deposits paid, upfront rent, and even refurbished properties.

Having concerns, I started asking questions about the impact the scheme would have on local services and whether it was fair, given Bracknell already has thousands of residents waiting years for housing — including veterans and their families.

But instead of answering those questions, complaints were made against me by a Lib Dem councillor and other anonymous complainants who we later learnt were Bracknell Forest Council staff.

I was accused of discrimination and breaching confidentiality.

The council then launched a year-long investigation into me, costing taxpayers over £15,000. During that investigation:

After nearly a year, the independent investigator cleared me of all charges and stated the council had provided little to no evidence against me.

But instead of accepting that finding, the council went back and introduced a new, narrow charge. A charge no one had previously complained about or had been identified during the nine-month investigation — that I had somehow brought my role into disrepute for telling the truth by exposing the true level of accommodation being offered to Afghans when the council didn't want anyone to know. This is despite the information not being confidential and clearly being in the public interest.

I was never allowed to put my defence forward to that allegation and I now face a hearing where the very same councillors who have accused me of xenophobia and 'spreading hate' could decide my fate.

That is why the Free Speech Union stepped in to support my case. But I now need help funding my defence, because if the council succeeds, it will create a blueprint for other councils to silence elected representatives and set an unacceptable precedent that unelected civil servants can decide what policies are scrutinised and what information the public is and isn't allowed to hear.

The council is using taxpayers’ money to fund their action against me. I have no legal representation and have to pay for my own legal defence. That's why I need your help to fund:

This case is now bigger than me.

It is about whether elected representatives can question controversial policies, speak up for residents, and tell the truth about these policies without facing political punishment through taxpayer-funded processes.

Please support my legal defence if you can.

Every donation, share, and message of support makes a difference.

Thank you.

Cllr John Edwards